In my rush to post the breaking Fleishman news before any other historyblog, I forgot the most significiant aspect of the N.Y. Journal of Commerce item. This is the first newspaper item I found outside of Florida that mentions Fleishman. This news, of course, contradicts the point made in footnote 130 (p. 76) of the SJH article that Fleishman's death, unlike Bierfield's murder, was not reported in the national press. I remain comforted, however, by the fact that the Journal of Commerce only reprinted an excerpt from the Jacksonville Florida Union. It would be interesting to learn, however, how the Florida Union item came to the attention of the Journal.
It is tempting to imagine Benjamin Altman, sitting in his store on 6th Avenue and coming across the news of his brother-in-law and business partner's murder. This fantasy raised the interesting question of how fast news did travel in those days. According to Dickinson, rumors of Fleishman's murder arrived in Marianna on the evening of Oct. 11th. Dickinson confirmed the murder on the 13th. The Journal item appeared on Oct. 21st. Presumably, Sophia would have telegraphed her brothers almost immediately so that they would have known of the murder for almost a week before the first (and only?) New York newspaper mention.
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